Shalom, Noach
Chabad of the East Bay said “shalom” to Noach Bittelman at a farewell Kiddush after services on June 7. One of the founders of Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim house of study in Berkeley, he made aliyah “to fulfill a decades long dream of living in the Land of Israel, amongst Am Yisrael,” wrote Rabbi Yehuda Ferris. He will join a large contingent of the Beit Midrash community already in Israel. At the farewell Kiddush, Bittelman spoke for 40 minutes about “being a part of the process of the ingathering of the exiles taking place in our day,” Ferris added. Check out Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim’s Facebook page to see pictures of Bittelman’s landing in Israel.
Stanford student is J Street U leader
Zoe Goldblum, a sophomore at Stanford University, is a new vice president of J Street U, where she’s responsible for overseeing activities on campuses in the Northwest region. She was elected at the group’s annual Summer Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 16. Goldblum grew up in the Jewish community of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she learned about the Middle East conflict. After visiting Israel in high school, she discovered J Street and was excited to find an organization that expressed her values of social justice along with her love for Israel. In her position, she will work with groups at Stanford, U.C. Berkeley, Portland State University, Puget Sound University, U.C. Santa Cruz and Reed College. As V.P., she’s hoping to expand J Street U to other colleges and universities in her region. Goldblum will serve with newly elected president Amna Farooqi, a Pakistani American and Muslim. “I can’t say enough great things about her,” Goldblum said. “We really trust her to lead the movement.” Goldblum is spending her summer doing research in haptic engineering (tactile feedback technology) in the lab at Stanford’s CHARM (collaborative haptics and robotics in medicine).
Inside outside
David Perlstein of San Francisco said he and his wife, Carolyn Power Perlstein, were among the oldest people at the sold-out Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park. They were there on Aug. 15 for music — and one particular musician: their son, Yosi Perlstein, who’s the resident fiddler in a band called Hooray for the Riff Raff. It “creates music that entertains while being socially conscious and thought provoking,” David said in his blog. Another interesting thing happened that day, he added. He was carded — i.e., he had to show his ID to prove he was 21 to buy a beer. “Well, I was — 50 years ago,” he mused. Perlstein writes about topics including American life, culture, Judaism and the Middle East on his blog at www.davidperlstein.com.
Short shorts
Some news about “Mill Valley” — the song, that is. On Aug. 23, the Throckmorton Theater held a 45th anniversary party for Rita Abrams and the song that she wrote and sang — and made famous — with her Strawberry Point third-graders. Michael Krasny and Joel Selvin gave tributes … And an oldie but a goodie: Laurie Leiber of Oakland won first place at the Alameda County Fair in June for her handmade, naturally fermented bagels. Her workshops are listed at www.bakeyourownamazingbagels.com.
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